Poll: 52% want to know Roberts' abortion stance

More women — 60% — than men say he should state his views on issue

WILL LESTER, Associated Press |
July 22, 2005

WASHINGTON - Just over half of all Americans, and a solid majority of women, want to know John Roberts' position on abortion before the Senate votes on whether to elevate him to the Supreme Court.

Most people don't yet know enough about Roberts to form an opinion on him, but among those who do, most view him favorably, an AP-Ipsos poll also found.

Roberts, 50, an appeals court judge and former Justice Department official, was chosen by President Bush on Tuesday to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

During the tumultuous presidential recount in 2000, Roberts flew to Florida and volunteered advice to Gov. Jeb Bush, whose brother was trying to clinch the election.

Abortion is sure to come up at his Senate confirmation hearings, and the survey found 52 percent think he should give his position on the matter before lawmakers vote on him, while 42 percent said he should not. Women were more inclined to want to know his position — 60 percent — while only 43 percent of men felt similarly.

Jane Sullivan Roberts, Roberts' wife and a lawyer, is ardently against abortion. She lends her name, money and professional advice to a small Washington-based organization — Feminists for Life of America Inc. — that offers counseling and educational programs. But John Roberts' position on the divisive issue is unclear.

"It's such an important thing, abortion is a woman's right," said Denise Connett of Bakersfield, Calif. "What she does with her body is her right and nobody has the right to take that away from her."

Most Democrats, 60 percent, were interested in hearing Roberts' position on abortion, while a majority of Republicans, 54 percent, said he should not have to disclose his views.

While deputy solicitor general in 1990, Roberts helped write a legal brief that said the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion was "wrongfully decided and should be overruled." However, as a government lawyer he was promoting established Bush administration policy.

When Roberts was asked about abortion during the 2003 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination to the federal bench, he said, "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land."

Most of those surveyed — 59 percent — said they haven't heard enough about Roberts to form an opinion about him, while 25 percent said they viewed him favorably and 14 percent unfavorably.

Overall, people are inclined at this point to favor confirmation, 47 percent to 24 percent.

The poll of 752 adults was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday by Ipsos, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.